Jacob Rios, 24, of Old Bridge Township, N.J. Rios pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to an Information charging him with one count of distribution of child pornography.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Rios admitted to knowingly distributing child pornography between March 3, 2011, and July 11, 2011, using GigaTribe, a peer-to-peer network. Rios created accounts on GigaTribe through which he downloaded pictures and videos of child pornography. He placed those pictures and videos into the shared directory of his GigaTribe accounts, thereby sharing them with other GigaTribe users.

As part of his guilty plea, Rios agreed to forfeit the laptop and hard drives that he used to commit the offense. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.

The distribution of child pornography count to which Rios pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is currently scheduled for January 3, 2013.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Squad, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Agarwal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.